Theory of morphodynamic information processing: Linking sensing to behaviour.

The traditional understanding of brain function has predominantly focused on chemical and electrical processes. However, new research in fruit fly (Drosophila) binocular vision reveals ultrafast photomechanical photoreceptor movements significantly enhance information processing, thereby impacting a fly's perception of its environment and behaviour. The coding advantages resulting from these mechanical processes suggest that similar physical motion-based coding strategies may affect neural communication ubiquitously.

Bumblebee social learning outcomes correlate with their flower-facing behaviour.

Previous studies suggest that social learning in bumblebees can occur through second-order conditioning, with conspecifics functioning as first-order reinforcers. However, the behavioural mechanisms underlying bumblebees' acquisition of socially learned associations remain largely unexplored. Investigating these mechanisms requires detailed quantification and analysis of the observation process.

Does bumblebee preference of continuous over interrupted strings in string-pulling tasks indicate means-end comprehension?

Bumblebees () have been shown to engage in string-pulling behavior to access rewards. The objective of this study was to elucidate whether bumblebees display means-end comprehension in a string-pulling task. We presented bumblebees with two options: one where a string was connected to an artificial flower containing a reward and the other presenting an interrupted string.

Noxious stimulation induces self-protective behavior in bumblebees.

It has been widely stated that insects do not show self-protective behavior toward noxiously-stimulated body parts, but this claim has never been empirically tested. Here, we tested whether an insect species displays a type of self-protective behavior: self-grooming a noxiously-stimulated site. We touched bumblebees () on an antenna with a noxiously heated (65°C) probe and found that, in the first 2 min after this stimulus, bees groomed their touched antenna more than their untouched antenna, and more than bees that were touched with an unheated probe or not touched at all did.

Bumblebees attend to both the properties of the string and the target in string-pulling tasks, but prioritize the features of the string.

Previous studies have demonstrated that associative learning and experience play important roles in the string-pulling of bumblebees (Bombus terrestris). However, the features of the target (artificial flower with sugar reward) and the string that bees learn in such tasks remain unknown. This study aimed to explore the specific aspects of the string-flower arrangement that bumblebees learn and how they prioritize these features.

Bumblebees socially learn behaviour too complex to innovate alone.

Culture refers to behaviours that are socially learned and persist within a population over time. Increasing evidence suggests that animal culture can, like human culture, be cumulative: characterized by sequential innovations that build on previous ones. However, human cumulative culture involves behaviours so complex that they lie beyond the capacity of any individual to independently discover during their lifetime.

Is it time for insect researchers to consider their subjects' welfare?

Recent evidence suggests that at least some insect species might plausibly feel pain. These findings should prompt researchers to think about the welfare implications of insect experiments.

Sub-cell scale features govern the placement of new cells by honeybees during comb construction.

Honeybee comb architecture and the manner of its construction have long been the subject of scientific curiosity. Comb is characterised by an even hexagonal layout and the sharing of cell bases and side walls, which provides maximised storage volume while requiring minimal wax. The efficiency of this structure relies on a regular layout and the correct positioning of cells relative to each other, with each new cell placed at the junction of two previously constructed cells.

Bees learn to dance.

Experience yields precision in the waggle dance of honey bees.

Bumblebees acquire alternative puzzle-box solutions via social learning.

The astonishing behavioural repertoires of social insects have been thought largely innate, but these insects have repeatedly demonstrated remarkable capacities for both individual and social learning. Using the bumblebee Bombus terrestris as a model, we developed a two-option puzzle box task and used open diffusion paradigms to observe the transmission of novel, nonnatural foraging behaviours through populations. Box-opening behaviour spread through colonies seeded with a demonstrator trained to perform 1 of the 2 possible behavioural variants, and the observers acquired the demonstrated variant.

Bumblebees retrieve only the ordinal ranking of foraging options when comparing memories obtained in distinct settings.

Are animals' preferences determined by absolute memories for options (e.g. reward sizes) or by their remembered ranking (better/worse)? The only studies examining this question suggest humans and starlings utilise memories for both absolute and relative information.

Motivational trade-offs and modulation of nociception in bumblebees.

Insects are traditionally thought to respond to noxious stimuli in an inflexible manner, without the ability to modulate their behavior according to context. We investigated whether bumblebees' attraction to high sucrose solution concentrations reduces their avoidance of noxious heat. Bees were given the choice between either unheated or noxiously heated (55 °C) feeders with different sucrose concentrations and marked by different colors.

Descending control of nociception in insects?

Modulation of nociception allows animals to optimize chances of survival by adapting their behaviour in different contexts. In mammals, this is executed by neurons from the brain and is referred to as the descending control of nociception. Whether insects have such control, or the neural circuits allowing it, has rarely been explored.

Discrimination of edge orientation by bumblebees.

Simple feature detectors in the visual system, such as edge-detectors, are likely to underlie even the most complex visual processing, so understanding the limits of these systems is crucial for a fuller understanding of visual processing. We investigated the ability of bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) to discriminate between differently angled edges. In a multiple-choice, "meadow-like" scenario, bumblebees successfully discriminated between angled bars with 7° differences, significantly exceeding the previously reported performance of eastern honeybees (Apis cerana, limit: 15°).

Social cognition in insects.

Insects feature some of the most complex societies in the animal kingdom, but a historic perception persists that such complexity emerges from interactions between individuals whose behaviours are largely guided by innate routines. Challenging this perception, recent work shows that insects feature many aspects of social intelligence found in vertebrate societies, such as individual recognition, learning object manipulation by observation, and elements of cultural traditions. Insects also display emotion-like states, which may be linked to social behaviours such as rescuing others from danger.

Genomic Signatures of Recent Adaptation in a Wild Bumblebee.

Environmental changes threaten insect pollinators, creating risks for agriculture and ecosystem stability. Despite their importance, we know little about how wild insects respond to environmental pressures. To understand the genomic bases of adaptation in an ecologically important pollinator, we analyzed genomes of Bombus terrestris bumblebees collected across Great Britain.

Gut microbiome drives individual memory variation in bumblebees.

The potential of the gut microbiome as a driver of individual cognitive differences in natural populations of animals remains unexplored. Here, using metagenomic sequencing of individual bumblebee hindguts, we find a positive correlation between the abundance of Lactobacillus Firm-5 cluster and memory retention on a visual discrimination task. Supplementation with the Firm-5 species Lactobacillus apis, but not other non-Firm-5 bacterial species, enhances bees' memory.

Harmonic radar tracking reveals that honeybee drones navigate between multiple aerial leks.

Male honeybees (drones) are thought to congregate in large numbers in particular "drone congregation areas" to mate. We used harmonic radar to record the flight paths of individual drones and found that drones favored certain locations within the landscape which were stable over two years. Drones often visit multiple potential lekking sites within a single flight and take shared flight paths between them.

Animal Cognition: The Self-Image of a Bumblebee.

Knowing one's body dimensions is a core aspect of individual experience and self-awareness. A recent study illustrates how bees take into account their own body size both in preparation for and while traversing small gaps.

Different effects of reward value and saliency during bumblebee visual search for multiple rewarding targets.

Several animals, including bees, use visual search to distinguish targets of interest and ignore distractors. While bee flower choice is well studied, we know relatively little about how they choose between multiple rewarding flowers in complex floral environments. Two factors that could influence bee visual search for multiple flowers are the saliency (colour contrast against the background) and the reward value of flowers.